Of interest is commonly owned copending applications entitled "CARBON MR SPECTROSCOPY METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PERFORMING THE METHOD", Ser. No. 507,941 filed Apr. 10, 1990 in the name of Bamsdorf et al. and "Nuclear Spin Examination Process and Arrangement for Carrying out the Process", Ser. No. 489,408 filed Mar. 3, 1990 in the name of J. K. H. Dietrich.
The invention relates to a magnetic resonance imaging method. DE-OS 34 45 689 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,409 discloses a method of this kind in which a plurality of sequences act on an examination zone in the presence of a uniform, steady magnetic field. Each sequence comprises three rf pulses, one of which is slice-selective. The amplitude of a magnetic gradient field (the so-called phase encoding gradient) is then varied from one sequence to another. The stimulated echo signals thus obtained are suitable for reconstructing, using a two-dimensional Fourier transformation, the nuclear magnetization distribution in the slice excited by the slice-selective rf pulse. The image thus obtained is determined essentially by the hydrogen-bound protons. The protons bound to fat (lipids) or lactate also have an effect on the image, but this effect is extremely small because of the low concentration of these components.
It has recently been found that lactate is an important metabolite of tumors, so that it can be used to identify such tumors. It is the object of the present invention to provide a method enabling determination of the spatial distribution of lactate.